llama.cpp users hit ROCm rough edges on MI50s

Hot take: the software stack exists, but MI50 support still feels like a “know the exact incantation” problem rather than a smooth install story.

• –The post is less about llama.cpp itself than about ROCm packaging friction on an older AMD GPU.
• –AMD’s official docs now recommend prebuilt Docker images first, which is a sign that manual host installs are still fragile.
• –The build docs explicitly include `gfx906` in the broader architecture list, so the MI50 is not abandoned, but it is clearly in the legacy-support zone.
• –The officially validated Docker images in the docs are for ROCm 7.0.0, so anyone aiming for ROCm 7.2 is already outside the most documented path.
• –Community builds and nightly ROCm 7 artifacts exist, which suggests the ecosystem has patched around the pain, but not eliminated it.
• –For readers, the post is a good signal that performance gains over Vulkan may be real, but the setup cost can easily outweigh the benefit unless you follow a known-good recipe.